“Everyone Needs a Savior?”
John 10:11-18
Who can we trust?
I mean who can we really, really trust?
We’ve got politicians who are willing to say and, in some cases, do just about anything to get our vote.
And how about corrupt preachers and evangelists who are out to steal the money of their trusting parishioners?
Our world is filled with people searching desperately for someone they can trust.
People looking for a Savior…
…someone who will love them unconditionally…
…someone who will never leave them, never forsake them.
Some folks look for a savior in our political, social, and economic systems that promise help and care.
Capitalism, though, creates consumers and a push for profit, many times at any cost.
It creates cycles of perceived need and a sense of lack.
In other words, it’s out for itself, without a care for the consumer.
I’m not bucking capitalism, but it makes a horrible savior.
And how about online influencers?
They aren’t paid to make a positive difference in a person’s life; they are funded by the amount of traffic they generate.
Even some our closest human relationships can be suspect.
This past week I was counseling someone who’s 70 year-old husband has been cheating on her for the past few months after 33 years of marriage.
She never, in her wildest dreams, thought this could or would happen.
In a world where we all need someone trustworthy in our lives, where do we look?
Is there any hope of finding someone?
Jesus says, in our Gospel Lesson for this morning that He is the Good Shepherd and the others are “hired hands” as He calls them, who will abandon us and leave us for the wolves at the first sign of trouble.
In verse 13 Jesus says that a hired hand “cares nothing for the sheep.”
In a world where corporations lay off workers for profits, with no loyalty to those who have given so much for the company it becomes a little more clear that there are a lot of hired hands out there or leaders who could care less for those who follow them or are in their care.
No wonder there is so much depression and anxiety in our world.
People are living without love, without commitment, without someone or something they can count on or trust.
What an empty existence; what a lonely life that is.
In verse 10 right before our reading for this morning, Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Another way of translating this is “I have come that they may have life, and to have it abundantly.”
I want to ask you, what does abundance mean for you?
And I’m not talking about abundance in terms of quantity because abundance is a quality of life.
It’s a way of being.
I’d imagine we can all tell stories about times in our lives when there was something we wanted and we worked really hard for it or we waited a long time and we finally got that thing we wanted and once we had it, it didn’t do wht we thought it would.
It didn’t fill us up.
It didn’t satisfy.
We got what we wanted but we had no abundance.
One thing that comes to mind is Christmas as a kid.
My sisters and I used to go through the Sears and JCPenney Cateloges, the toy sections that is and pick out what we wanted for Christmas.
How many of you remember doing that?
For you folks born after a certain time, you have no idea what I am talking about.
So, perhaps think of looking at Amazon or something like that.
And we see a bunch of things we want.
Things that look like they would make our lives better.
Things that we are sure, in the case of a child, that we will play with over and over and over again.
Then the BIG DAY comes.
It’s Christmas morning.
We open our presents and we have gotten just what we asked for and dreamed about.
We might play with it for a few minutes and then return to that same beat up old GI Joe or Match Box Car or Barbie or whatever that we’ve been playing with for years.
The Christmas abundance is never touched again.
And, in many ways, Santa has wasted a lot of money, hasn’t he or she and our lives are the same as they were before.
The abundant life Jesus offers is the quality of life that connects us to God, and thus to what is good, true, and beautiful in this world.
It connects us to the Good Shepherd—the One Who loves us unconditionally and has only our best interests in mind.
He doesn’t scatter when the going gets rough.
He doesn’t run when our wolves attack.
He doesn’t give up on us when we give up on Him.
He doesn’t forget about us when we go wandering off; instead, He searches and searches for us until He finds us, puts us on His shoulders, brings us home and holds a great big party because that lost sheep of His—and that is you and that is me has been found!!!
And so, abundant life is about being loved by God and thus loving God back in real and tangible ways—by serving others, the other sheep God just as much as God loves us.
Abundant life leads means living in peace.
And it’s not life without difficulties, but a life where we are secure in the knowledge that we are safely and securely in the hands of the God Who loves us and cares for us matter what happens to us in this world—whether it be being treated badly by other humans, financial hardship or disease.
We can know that things will ultimately be alright because we can trust the One Who loves us.
Abundant life means becoming more and more involved in the lives of others, taking risks for the sake of others, caring for others deeply and compassionately—in other words, becoming more and more like the Good Shepherd Who has laid down His life for us—His Sheep.
Abundant life never adds to the pain of the world because it is Jesus’ Way of being in the world—Jesus’ way of living—Jesus’ way of being human.
Abundant life is the presence of God lived through your life and mine.
You and I, like sheep, are vulnerable and often oblivious to the dangers around us.
Like sheep, we live in a wilderness, and that wilderness is called our earthly lives.
These earthly lives, with their emphasis on putting ourselves first, tend not to lead us to look out for the good of others.
Our society emphasizes self-indulgence and shuns self-giving.
There are many people and entities in our world who want to lead us.
But where will they lead us?
Do they have our best interests in mind?
Will they keep us safe?
Will they bring us inner peace, increase our love for God and others, and transform us into people who are making a positive difference in the world through loving service?
We are all looking for someone or something to save us from the misery, loneliness, and emptiness of our existence.
We all need to be loved and loved unconditionally.
And Jesus is the One Who has proven His love for us.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…
…I lay down my life—only to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.”
No one forced Him or coerced Him to give His life for us.
He didn’t do it to trick us or to get our money.
It wasn’t for power or anything else.
As a matter of fact, He completely emptied Himself of all power in order to do it.
He jumped on the tracks and took the weight of the train upon Himself so that we wouldn’t have to.
He pushed us out of the way of oncoming traffic only to be hit and killed Himself.
He rescued us, by giving His life, His everything, His all.
He is truly, truly, truly Good.
In a world of sham saviors who will abandon us at the slightest hint of trouble, Jesus commits Himself to the whole she-bang!
Do you know the Good Shepherd?
Do you listen to Him?
Are you following Him?
Are you allowing Him to give you abundant life?
Think of all the people in this world, the sad and lonely and desperate people who have no idea that there even is a Shepherd, a REAL Savior Who cares for them; who will never leave them nor forsake them—Who will never let them down.
What can we do to show them, to spread the news to a world that is so used to being let down by hired hands dressed in shepherd’s clothing?
Everyone needs a Savior and there is only one.
Are we willing to follow Him and allow our lives to touch the lives of others in such a way that we will make a positive difference in this lost and broken world?
Let us Pray:
Dear God, we all hunger to know and be known.
We all long to be loved.
We all need a Savior and You are the One.
The rest are hired hands, thieves and robbers.
May we commit ourselves to following only YOU and participate in helping others to follow YOU as well.
Thank You for loving us and saving us.
In Jesus’ name and for His sake we pray.
Amen.
